1. Field
The present disclosure relates to a lubrication structure of a gear change mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
Vehicles including a transmission, such as an automatic transmission, are provided with a gear change mechanism for changing gears (shifting gears) by switching a supply destination of an oil pressure in accordance with an operation of a selector lever by a driver.
As an example of such a gear change mechanism, there is a parking mechanism that locks an output shaft of a transmission coupled to drive wheels when the vehicle is stopped. The above parking mechanism includes an actuation valve that actuates the parking mechanism in accordance with the shift position selected by the driver, a valve body that houses the actuation valve, a detent plate that pivots upon switching of the actuation valve, a parking rod that drives a parking pole by being displaced together with the pivoting of the detent plate, a parking gear that is disposed on the output shaft and to which the parking pole engages (meshes), and a detent arm that elastically engages with the detent plate.
In the parking mechanism described above, when the shift position is shifted to a parking range (P range) by an operation of the selector lever by the driver, the detent plate is pivoted to a parking position with the actuation valve. With the above, the cam body provided at the distal end of the parking rod drives the parking pole; accordingly, the parking pole meshes with the parking gear on the output shaft and the output shaft is locked.
Incidentally, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-89597 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-13184 each illustrate a lubrication structure for lubricating components of a gear change mechanism, such as the parking mechanism described above. In other words, in conventional lubrication structures, the components of the gear change mechanism are lubricated by splashed oil that has been scraped up by the gears (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2012-13184) or the components of the gear change mechanism are lubricated by dropping oil from a gutter that is provided in a wall surface of a case, the gutter temporarily accumulating oil inside the case that has been scraped up by the gears (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2011-89597).